


Pastmare

by slotumn



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: Despite all his teasing about being childish, she rarely showed the vulnerability of one.Always so impeccable and alert, armed with fearsome magic and sharp intellect— a far cry from helplessness and fear, the two things he'd come to associate childhood with.Were he anyone else, he just may have mistaken her for being invincible in that respect.---In which the scared panicking child inside never goes away, not really.
Relationships: Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 8
Collections: Slotumn Portfolio





	Pastmare

**Author's Note:**

> You'd think I would have written a nightmare hurt/comfort for these two already, but I don't think I've written something along these lines. 
> 
> Basically I wanted to write Lysithea sort of...literally mentally regressing to the child she used to be in response to a traumatic nightmare, instead of just being a teenager/20something with a childish side. Big difference there.

Despite all his teasing about being childish, she rarely showed the vulnerability of one. 

Always so impeccable and alert, armed with fearsome magic and sharp intellect— a far cry from helplessness and fear, the two things he'd come to associate childhood with.

"Away...go away...away—"

Were he anyone else, he just may have mistaken her for being invincible in that respect.

"...Mama, Papa...where, are, argh...!"

She always thrashed and clawed during her nightmares, which he didn't try to stop. Sometimes the scratches and kicks hit him, but trying to hold her still would only have made it worse, for a multitude of reasons.

"No, no no no, no, no, _NO_ , let me out, out out out out _OUT_ —"

There were other ways to pull her out of it— turning on the lamp, opening a jar of candy with an overwhelmingly sweet scent, and most importantly: 

"Hey. Lys. Lysithea."

"—out...out..."

Then, she'd reach out to him, still struggling to open her eyes, and that was when her yells quieted down into hard, rapid breathes. 

"...Khalid?"

He stroked her hair. "Yep, that's me."

Lysithea sniffled and blinked, eyes and cheeks glossy with tears, then snuggled into his chest— first to wipe her face off, then to press her cheek and ear over his heart. 

"Candy? Or hot chocolate?"

A shaky whine, and an even tighter hug. The candy jar on the nightstand would have to wait, it seemed.

Lysithea was still clinging onto him when her quiet crying finally turned into words.

"...They tried to, they tried to, k-kill," a sniffle, a choke, "th-they would have...Ma and Pa—"

When she looked up at him, more round droplets rolled down. Khalid dabbed it away with his sleeves, and only then did she sob, in delayed, heavy bursts. 

"M-Mama and Papa..."

There was a primal sort of fear in her eyes— the dread of a child suddenly realizing their protector, their hero, their haven, wasn't invincible, and that they could be (already were) left to fend for themselves. 

"I was gonna...was going to save them, but," 

Lysithea slammed a fist into the mattress, once, twice, thrice, each harder than the next and accompanied by loud sobs. The following punches were faster, and her sobs turned into shaky calls, and then to wails, and then to a piercing scream. 

"I was going to save them!! I was going to _kill_ those— why didn't I—"

The following seething, heaving, and tears were that of genuine anger; anger at the wretched beings who still tortured her in their deaths, anger at the circumstances that let this happen, and most of all, anger at herself for her own failure, even in a dream. 

"We did," Khalid whispered, as the front of his tunic grew wetter with tears. "We fought them, and we won."

He knew she must have heard him by the furious nod, but that wasn't enough to stop the cries. Her forehead felt hot when he covered it with his palm; no doubt all that crying must be making her head hurt. 

But eventually, the rage and panic-fueled high subsided as he gently rubbed her face, pressed their foreheads together, and kissed. Her eyes were bloodshot and half-closed, the warm lamplight reflecting off of it as her breathing slowed down.

Khalid placed a kiss on each of her swollen red eyelids once they were fully shut, as his own charm for sweet dreams. 

A few minutes later, he closed his own eyes, figuring she must have fallen asleep— until,

"Khalid."

"...Yes?"

"If they try to hurt you," she said, voice surprisingly steady and clear. 

"Hm?"

He didn't bother saying that they couldn't, not anymore. 

"If they try to hurt you," she repeated, with a hiccup, "I really will follow them to Hell to kill them twice. I'll tear them limb to limb until there's nothing left."

She meant it, with every fibre of her being. 

Silence.

"...Yeah, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "I'm a lucky guy, having a dependable wife like you."

A proud little huff. "And then...I'll..." 

The sentence trailed off as Lysithea yawned, squirming and moving her legs so that they brushed against his own. 

"And then? You come back up to the mortal realm, victorious from your conquests in Hell, and eat cake?"

He was teasing— slightly, not too much— but she gave a hum of earnest agreement. "With fruit tea."

"Of course, of course, we can't forget that. Anything else?"

"I'll bake something for you, too...and then we can read and play with the cats, and hug and kiss, and..."

Lysithea gave an even bigger yawn, stretching like a cats she spoke of between the blankets. 

"...I'll be really, really happy. With you."

So simple, he thought, with a pang. Simple and innocent and childish. 

"Well, I'm already very happy right now," he chuckled, low and soft. "I'm happier then I've ever been, really."

This was what they'd craved all their lives— the kind of joy that was as precious as it was terrifying, because losing it would surely drive one mad.

"I wouldn't exchange this for anything," he continued, knowing Lysithea must be asleep. "Wouldn't exchange _you_ for anything. You know that, right?"

But right now, he wasn't going to cower in the face of what-ifs, because—

"...We're safe together. Always. Promise."

**Author's Note:**

> If you're 18+ and interested in spicier content for these two, check out the [Lysiclaude NSFW Bingo](https://twitter.com/lysiclaudensfw?s=09)!  
>   
> [Join the Lysiclaude Discord!](https://discord.gg/GZmtGbw) (Adults only for ease of moderation, please note.)  
>   
> Feel free to leave prompts/suggestions on my [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.qa/slotumn)!  
>   
> [My twitter](https://twitter.com/slotumn?s=09)  
> 


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